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George W. Thorn Award

PHILIP SMITH, PhD '13, MS '13, MS '09 Smith is a tenure-track assistant professor in Miami University’s Department of Kinesiology and Health. His research addresses health inequities resulting from tobacco use and the health risks of vaping. He also serves as an associate editor on the Editorial Board for Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Philip Smith, PhD ’13, MS ’13, MS ’09, is a tenure-track assistant professor in Miami University’s Department of Kinesiology and Health. After completing his doctorate at UB, Smith went on to become a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University’s School of Public Health, where he conducted research about gender differences in tobacco use and comorbidity between substance use and mental illness. As associate research scientist at Yale’s School of Medicine, he examined women’s health and addictive behaviors. He was then hired as an assistant professor for CUNY School of Medicine’s Department of Community Health and Social Medicine.

Smith’s impressive efforts have granted him various research awards, more than 50 authored or co-authored publications, four professional memberships and five awards for his work—including an award for excellence in teaching. He also serves as an associate editor on the Editorial Board for Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

His current research addresses health inequities resulting from tobacco use and the health risks of vaping and youth vaping. He partners with school districts, coalitions and task forces to address tobacco use and vaping in local communities. He also has overseen research grant budgets totaling over $1 million, and his research publications have been cited more than 1,600 times.

George W. Thorn Award

The Thorn Award is given to University at Buffalo alumni under 40 who have made outstanding contributions to their career fields or academic areas.

Our Place. Our Way. Our Future.

For 170 years, the University at Buffalo has made life better in Western New York and around the world with bold action and an unmatched tenacity. Boldly Buffalo: The Campaign for UB is the largest, most ambitious fundraising campaign in university history—a campaign that will transform UB in nearly every way imaginable.